RUSSIA: Russia wants to top medal count at Sochi 2014 Olympics, head of the Russian Olympic Committee says

Record ID: 331102

  • Title: RUSSIA: Russia wants to top medal count at Sochi 2014 Olympics, head of the Russian Olympic Committee says
  • Date: 16th August 2012
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 15, 2012) (REUTERS) PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA'S OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ALEXANDER ZHUKOV TAKING SEAT AT NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA'S OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ALEXANDER ZHUKOV, SAYING: "The London Olympics showed that we are strong not only in our traditional sports, which Russia has always been strong in, like wrestling, athletics, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronised swimming and many others, but we are broadening our potential and start being competitive in many types of sports where we have never got medals before, or maybe we got them but after that were not very successful during a certain period of time." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA'S OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ALEXANDER ZHUKOV, SAYING: "Our forecast we made before the Olympics has come true. The total medal count was even higher than we expected. As for the gold medals, we more or less expected those figures." ZHUKOV AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA'S OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ALEXANDER ZHUKOV, SAYING: "We have set ourselves a task to get to the first place in overall medal count. It is very hard to do, it is almost impossible, taking into account the state of affairs we had in Vancouver. However, we see that we are on the right path and in the past two years our medal potential has grown quite significantly." JOURNALISTS ZHUKOV LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 31st August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA26C2EUBRVYSQHZTU9TE6EXK62
  • Story Text: The head of the Russian Olympic Committee said on Wednesday (August 15) he was satisfied with the results of the country's team at the London Olympics, saying Russia will be fighting to get to the first place in the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

    "The London Olympics showed that we are strong not only in our traditional sports, which Russia has always been strong in, like wrestling, athletics, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronised swimming and many others, but we are broadening our potential and start being competitive in many types of sports where we have never got medals before, or maybe we got them but after that were not very successful during a certain period of time," president of Russia's Olympic Committee Alexander Zhukov told a news conference in Moscow.
    Russia came in fourth at the medals table in the 2012 Olympics with 24 gold medals, 25 silver and 32 bronze in London. Zhukov said the tally matched his expectations.

    "Our forecast we made before the Olympics has come true. The total medal count was even higher than we expected. As for the gold medals, we more or less expected those figures," he said.
    Fourth place behind the United States, China and Britain was an unusual position for the Russians, principal heirs to the Soviet sporting machine that regularly topped the Olympic standings for decades.
    The country's Olympic chief said Russia will struggle to improve the situation at the 2014 Winter Games on its home soil, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

    "We have set ourselves a task to get to the first place in overall medal count. It is very hard to do, it is almost impossible, taking into account the state of affairs we had in Vancouver. However, we see that we are on the right path and in the past two years our medal potential has grown quite significantly," Zhukov said.
    Russia won only three gold medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
    Zhukov added he did not notice any blatantly unfair judging at the London Games, pointing out, however, that in some cases sportsmen were not evaluated objectively.
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